Chapter 50: Do You Dare?

Gu Fangchen did this on purpose, of course.

He didn't come here today to actually attend the banquet; to put it bluntly, he was here specifically to crash the party!

What was the Qionglin Banquet?

It was a banquet exclusively held for the top-ranking scholar and newly minted imperial scholars. It was packed with Confucian disciples, making it the absolute home turf of Gu Yuandao.

If Gu Fangchen had simply walked in obediently, he would have essentially been handing his opponent a stage to perform on. Gu Yuandao would be the host, and he would be the guest, placing him at an immediate disadvantage in terms of momentum.

By pulling the Great Master's tiger skin as a banner and having the guards announce in advance that the Great Master was arriving, these people would never suspect that anyone would dare impersonate the Great Master. Therefore, no matter how high their cultivation levels in the Divine Dao were, they wouldn't use their spiritual senses to peer ahead of time.

Naturally, they had no way of knowing who was actually coming.

The bows meant for the Great Master were all given to Gu Fangchen instead!

Gu Yuandao at least had the composure to cup his hands in a greeting, but several elderly ministers further back directly dropped to their knees. Upon seeing Gu Fangchen walk in, their old faces instantly turned as green as gourds.

Gu Yuandao's expression turned extremely unsightly. He immediately straightened up, flicked his sleeve, and growled through clenched teeth:

"Gu Fangchen! How dare you impersonate the Great Master?!"

Gu Fangchen gave his fan a flick, walked up to stand right in front of him, chuckled lightly, and said:

"The Great Master is so busy, how could she possibly have the time to personally attend the Qionglin Banquet to congratulate a top scholar with zero actual achievements?"

"Gu Yuandao, you flatter yourself far too much."

Gu Fangchen's breezy remark pierced straight into Gu Yuandao's heart like a solid nail, causing him to instantly clench his fists.

Gu Fangchen was also thoroughly familiar with Gu Yuandao as a "former teammate."

In the game *Mirror Amidst the Dust*, played from the player's perspective, Gu Yuandao served as the representative of the younger generation of Confucianism. His existence was closely intertwined with the dynamic between the imperial court and the immortal sects, meaning he was involved in practically all kinds of quests, resulting in a high frequency of interactions.

If a player chose to follow the Confucian route, Gu Yuandao was the ultimate companion: stellar character, rock-solid strength, deep background, and vast connections.

As long as one raised Gu Yuandao's favorability rating, many quests could be completed simply by dropping him a greeting, making things immensely convenient.

Naturally, while grinding for favorability, Gu Fangchen had also discovered that this character, Gu Yuandao, possessed an intense sense of pride and a desperate desire to win.

At the time, he had assumed it was caused by the impoverished life Gu Yuandao endured in his youth.

Now, having transmigrated into this wretched fake heir, Gu Fangchen finally understood that the root cause lay with the Prince of Northern Suppression.

Regardless of whether it was Gu Fangchen or Gu Yuandao, a person's parenting style rarely changed.

Gu Yuye suppressed the original host, and he suppressed Gu Yuandao just the same—except that the latter had Gu Fangchen to serve as an even more pathetic point of comparison, and possessed genuine ability, so he fared somewhat better.

Yet, with such a Saint of Military Strategy for a father weighing heavily down upon him, Gu Yuandao's yearning for external validation and self-actualization was naturally impossible to conceal.

Thus, the absolute best way to destroy Gu Yuandao was to make him realize his own "incompetence."

Without needing any other actions, the cracks in Gu Yuandao's Dao heart would expand infinitely.

Gu Yuandao stared at Gu Fangchen, his face expressionless, and lowered his voice:

"Ridiculous. Disregarding the law and spouting wild nonsense—do you think you are still back at the Prince's Estate, and that there is still a mother who will protect you?"

If he thought he could humiliate him in public with this, Gu Fangchen had calculated entirely wrong.

Such shallow, reckless, and boorish petty behavior would only make him alienate everyone at the Qionglin Banquet. All the people he had played for fools would unite in shared hatred against him alongside Gu Yuandao.

Who was fish-eye and who was a bright pearl—the scholars and officials inside the Qionglin Garden could see clearly.

While Gu Yuandao managed to keep his composure, the elderly ministers in the back were already blushing with rage. Their faces flushed crimson as they stepped forward, pointed directly at Gu Fangchen, and rebuked angrily:

"You impudent rascal! Impersonating the Great Master—do you have any idea what kind of grave crime this is?!"

Gu Fangchen raised an eyebrow, looked at this impeccably dressed elderly minister, and asked for instruction with utmost modesty:

"Pardon me, pardon me. This junior is ignorant and truly has no idea how grave of a crime it is."

"May I ask this honorable lord, is this crime enough to warrant the execution of all nine familial exterminations?"

The old minister choked.

Was there anyone like this?

When told he had committed a grave crime, he showed neither fear nor panic, and instead turned around to ask if the crime was enough to warrant the execution of nine familial generations. *In my opinion, you are the one who truly wants your entire family wiped out!*

With a dark expression, the old minister opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly realized the identity of the person standing before him...

Before the imperial decree was formally issued, Gu Fangchen remained the Heir of the Prince of Northern Suppression.

The nominal son of the Prince of Northern Suppression.

Publicly impersonating the Great Master at the Qionglin Banquet and deceiving so many scholars and officials present—if calculated strictly according to the laws of the Great Wei dynasty, it genuinely constituted a capital offense punishable by the extermination of nine familial generations...

Yet, did he dare to voice it?

If this execution were carried out, the very first person to be executed would be the Prince of Northern Suppression, Gu Yuye.

The second would be the protagonist of this Qionglin Banquet, Gu Yuandao.

The blow was deflected right back at them!

Trapped in a dilemma, the minister abruptly swallowed his words and fell sullenly silent.

A wave of shock rippled through the hearts of everyone else present.

Originally, Gu Fangchen's impression in the minds of everyone here was that of a brainless fool. When he first appeared impersonating the Great Master and made fools of them all, aside from anger, there was only amusement.

As expected of a brainless idiot to pull such a stunt—falling into a trap so easily while naively thinking he had gotten the upper hand.

Yet Gu Fangchen's volley of sharp retorts hadn't yielded an inch of ground.

Instead, he had left the questioning old minister completely speechless.

Because by asking that question, wasn't he simply stretching out his neck and asking if they dared to execute his nine generations?

That was stating the obvious... Aside from Emperor Yong'an, who else would dare execute the nine generations of the Prince of Northern Suppression?

Even Emperor Yong'an, should he ever decide to strike, would likely have to deliberate over and over again.

This was definitely not something a brainless person could possibly say!

Having previously witnessed Gu Fangchen's formidable tongue, Gu Yuandao wore a cold expression and stated:

"Execution of nine generations may not be enough, but casting you into the Demon-Suppressing Prison is more than sufficient."

The Demon-Suppressing Prison was the highest-spec prison in the Great Wei dynasty, distinct from the regular celestial dungeons, specifically designated for locking up demonic entities and sorcerers who disrupted the nation's legal codes.

Gu Fangchen smiled:

"In theory, that is indeed true. But haven't you noticed, hmm... that the Blood-Clad Guards haven't arrived yet?"

Recovering from his humiliation and anger, Gu Yuandao took a deep breath, his heart sinking.

How could this be...

It was one thing for the Great Master to send items, but could she really have let this fellow attend the Qionglin Banquet in her stead?

Smiling beamingly, Gu Fangchen retrieved the invitation card from his tunic:

"Take a good look. This is the Great Master's invitation. Since she was occupied, she had me attend in her place. If any of you have any grievances, go take it up with the Great Master."

That wasn't enough yet.

With a flick of his wrist, Gu Fangchen produced the scroll brought by the white crane, though he formally rolled it back up with utmost solemnity and tied it neatly with a red silk ribbon into a butterfly bow.

"I hear that recently, many people have been deeply concerned about the personal affairs of the Prince of Northern Suppression—specifically regarding Gu Yuandao and me, and just who among us actually carries the bloodline of the Prince of Northern Suppression."

"I made a special trip to ask the Great Master about it."

He thrust the scroll forward, deliberately placing it right in front of Gu Yuandao with a brilliant smile.

"This is the result of the Great Master's divination. Do you dare to look at it?"

Gu Yuandao's pupils contracted violently; his hands trembled, yet he failed to raise them.

An uproar erupted among the crowd behind him.

The moment Gu Fangchen made his entrance, he threw out two consecutive challenges: "Do you dare?"

The outcome, however, was... neither of them dared!

As the Qionglin Banquet had only just begun, the person stealing all the spotlight had unexpectedly turned out to be Gu Fangchen.

————
ps: Published first and edited later. If there are any inconsistencies, please refresh. Another chapter will follow shortly.